Return of some 1460th members delayed

Published 7:00 pm, Thursday, April 1, 2004

Some of the Midland-based 1460th National Guard Transportation Company is now on American soil.

One plane carrying a group of unit soldiers landed at Fort McCoy, Wis. early Friday morning. The second group has been delayed one to two days due to transportation issues. The first group will stay at Fort McCoy, Wis. for five to seven days for demobilization. They will then leave, making a brief stop in Lansing before heading to Midland.

Sherry Ratell said her daughter, Suzanne Hatt, called from Germany on Thursday. Ratell said Hatt wants to have a private family gathering when she gets home  "Christmas at Easter."

Several other families also are planning celebrations. Gale Kissinger and her family plan to relax when her husband, Steve, returns. Later, they will have a private party. Many will spend time becoming reacquainted with their families after more than a year deployment.

Some people have questioned the decision not to have a homecoming parade. Capt. Dawn Dancer of the Guards Lansing office said the soldiers just want see their loved ones.

"The commander knows his troops and this is their wishes," Dancer said.

Dancer added the unit wants a well-planned event that includes inviting Gov. Jennifer Granholm. That would be impossible without knowing which day they will return to Midland. But they will not be ignored.

"They will get a heros welcome the day they come home," Dancer said.

Dancer remembers when she returned from the Gulf War. The streets of her hometown were lined with people holding welcome signs and waving at the unit as it traveled home.

"To me, that is a heros welcome home," she said. "I got to get off the bus, hug my family and go home."

There could be a parade later, and an Operation Freedom Salute will take place about three months after the unit returns home.

"We are willing to do anything," Selina Tisdale of the City of Midland said of a parade.

The unit will return home next week by the following route: M-30 to M-20 to Eastman to Airport Road, then to the Armory.